The ultimate social experiment is back!
This week's best telly includes the highly anticipated new series of Big Brother which returns to our screens after 5 years away with new hosts, a new house and a new home on ITV2. Also making its comeback this week after almost 20 years away, is hit US sitcom Frasier.
Elsewhere, Steve Coogan portrays Jimmy Savile in a new BBC One drama, Brie Larson leads Apple TV+'s adaptation of Lessons in Chemistry and David Mitchell invites a new group of celebrities to take part in his outdoor survival challenge show for Dave.
Former Corrie co-stars Catherine Tyldesley and Shayne Ward reunite for a new Channel 5 murder mystery and speaking of Coronation Street, it's not often that soaps make it onto this list, but as Stephen's crimes are finally revealed, this week's episodes really are unmissable.
Here are 7 TV shows you can't miss this week...
1. Big Brother
Sunday 8th to Friday 13th October at 9pm on ITV2
I've been waiting 1,797 days to write this sentence... Big Brother is back! When Cameron Cole was crowned the last winner in 2018, we ended on a shot of the diary room with Big Brother promising "Big Brother will get back to you". True to their word, they got back to us in August 2022 to let us know that the original social experiment will be returning, this time on ITV2.
Fast-forward 14 months and we're now just a day away from the launch show in which new hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best will introduce us to a new cast of carefully selected housemates, from all walks of life who'll be taking up residence in the brand new Big Brother house, arriving in front of a live studio audience.
Given its own contemporary new look ready for this reimagining of the show, the iconic Big Brother house will play host to all the action. Clever tasks, nail-biting nominations and live evictions will be back. The public once again will play a crucial role, voting throughout the series and ultimately determining the winner, who will walk away with a life-changing cash prize.
Big Brother will be followed each night by Big Brother: Late & Live, in which hosts AJ and Will will give viewers an additional hour of exclusive Big Brother content dissecting the night's action in front of a studio audience and will be the only place to watch the evictees first live interview alongside an array of unmissable exclusive features including access to the camera runs, celebrity guest commentary and debate plus weekly nomination results.
The iconic Big Brother: Live Stream also makes its return to screens, airing seven nights a week exclusively on ITVX, giving fans the opportunity to watch live footage into the small hours after Big Brother: Late & Live.
1-8/ Continues nightly
2. Coronation Street
Monday 9th, Wednesday 11th and Friday 13th October at 8pm on ITV1
Stephen Reid's reign of terror in Coronation Street reaches a dramatic climax on the cobbles this week in the nail-biting final chapter of this thrilling storyline.
Whether he escapes justice or finally pays for his crimes, one thing is for sure actor Todd Boyce is finally bidding farewell to Stephen and Coronation Street, leaving shock and devastation in his wake.
As a new day dawns in Weatherfield, Stephen is planning his escape from the cobbles and the trail of dead bodies, unaware that the residents of Coronation Street are putting together the pieces of a rather shocking jigsaw puzzle, one that could leave him seeing out his days behind bars, not running one on a beach.
With the walls closing in on Stephen, will he escape to foreign climes? Or does he have unfinished business which will see him make one final mistake? Will Weatherfield CID finally get their man?
3. The Reckoning
Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th October at 9pm on BBC One
A lot has been said about BBC One's factual drama The Reckoning, from writer Neil McKay and executive producer Jeff Pope which examines the crimes of disgraced entertainer Jimmy Savile, with testimony from his survivors and Steve Coogan portraying the disgraced entertainer,
The four-part series traces the life of Jimmy Savile, a man who, for decades, became one of the UK’s most influential celebrities, but in death has become one of the most reviled figures of modern history following revelations of extensive and horrific abuse.
Savile used his involvement in multiple organisations, such as the BBC, hospitals, prisons, and charities, to legitimise himself, forging friendships in showbusiness, politics, journalism, the Catholic Church and even the Royal family to cement his position.
Using drama’s unique ability to place events in their emotional and historical context, the series will explore how Savile used his celebrity and powerful connections to conceal his crimes and exploit institutional failings. It is important to understand how he was able to hide in plain sight in order to gain a greater understanding of how he evaded justice.
The drama aims to highlight the importance of confronting the horrors of the past and talking openly about abuse and the team has worked closely with many people whose lives were impacted by Savile to ensure their experiences are told and reflected with sensitivity and respect, and the drama will also draw on extensive, wide-ranging research and published accounts.
It will examine the impact his appalling crimes had on his victims, and the powerlessness many felt when they tried to raise the alarm.
Four survivors of Savile who have contributed to The Reckoning will also feature in the series, interviewed on camera to offer their further insight and to reflect on their experiences in the hope that the telling of their stories will prevent something like it from happening again.
1-2/4 Continues next Monday and Tuesday. All episodes available at launch
4. David Mitchell's Outsiders
Thursday 12th October at 10pm on Dave
David Mitchell is back with a brand new series of his outdoor survival challenge show for Dave, Outsiders, in which comedians compete in pairs carrying out survival-themed tasks for badges. Taking part in this series are Alan Davies and Roisin Conaty, Chris McCausland and Laura Smyth and Guz Khan and Judi Love.
On the Outsiders’ first day in camp, they battle it out to see who will create the best apocalyptic society. David Mitchell challenges the six comedians to smuggle substantial amounts of contraband past a strict border control officer and devise an entertaining, yet educational fable for a group of underwhelmed children.
Will Chris’s competitive spirit give his team the edge? And will Guz and Judi be caught out by their potentially offensive message to the children? And at the end of the day, David summons the teams to his HQ to review events and award badges for successfully completed challenges.
1/6 Continues weekly
5. Frasier
Friday 13th October on Paramount+
After 19 years away, Kelsey Grammer is this week, reprising the role of Frasier Crane in a new season of Frasier, now on Paramount+.
Filmed in front of a live studio audience at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, the new series follows Frasier Crane in the next chapter of his life as he returns to Boston with new challenges to face, new relationships to forge and an old dream or two to finally fulfil.
In addition to Kelsey Grammer, the new season stars Jack Cutmore-Scott as Frasier’s son Freddy, Nicholas Lyndhurst as Frasier’s old college buddy turned university professor Alan, Toks Olagundoye as Olivia, Alan’s colleague and head of the university’s psychology department, Jess Salgueiro as Freddy’s roommate Eve and Anders Keith as Frasier’s nephew David.
1-2/10 Continues weekly
6. Lessons in Chemistry
Friday 13th October on Apple TV+
Based on the best-selling debut novel from author, science editor and copywriter Bonnie Garmus, Apple TV+'s new drama Lessons in Chemistry, follows Elizabeth Zott, played by Brie Larson, whose dream of being a scientist is put on hold in a patriarchal society deeming that women belong in the domestic sphere, not the professional one.
Set in the early 1950s, when Elizabeth finds herself pregnant, alone and fired from her lab, she musters the ingenuity only a single mother has, accepting a job as a host on a TV cooking show, and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives – and the men who are suddenly listening – a lot more than recipes … all the while craving a return to her true love: science.
Starring alongside Larson are Lewis Pullman as Calvin, Aja Naomi King as Harriet Slone, Stephanie Koenig as Fran Frask, Patrick Walker as Wakely, Thomas Mann as Boryweitz, Kevin Sussman as Walter and Beau Bridges as Wilson.
1-2/8 Continues weekly
7. The Good Ship Murder
Friday 13th October on Paramount+
Former Corrie co-stars Catherine Tyldesley and Shayne Ward are reuniting on screen this week as newly-promoted First Officer Kate and cabaret singer Jack in Channel 5's new murder mystery series, The Good Ship Murder.
The series is set aboard a luxury cruise liner, touring everyone’s favourite Mediterranean holiday hotspots, bubbling with intrigues, rivalries, glamour, money and class divides. But its new cabaret singer, Jack Grayling, soon discovers there are also more sinister elements below the surface.
At the start of a new cruise, Jack meets newly-promoted First Officer, Kate Woods. Fierce and ambitious, she’s a woman in a man’s world with plenty to prove. After a passenger is found murdered in their first port of call, Kate’s dream of her own command is thrown into jeopardy and Jack finds himself thrust back into his former life as a detective.
What follows is a wave of murder mysteries – each set against the backdrop of a different stunning coastal destination where the ship has dropped anchor. With the support of First Officer Kate, Jack tackles both showstopping performances on stage and unravels intricately plotted mysteries in this fun, fast-paced, and life-affirming new series that is set to deliver a thrilling dose of sun, sea, and murder.
Kate and Jack have very different temperaments and very different jobs, but when one of the ship’s passengers is murdered in La Rochelle, Kate needs to call on Jack’s skills as a former cop to help solve the crime. Who could have a motive to kill, and who might be their next victim?
The unlikely team work together as Jack also tackles showstopping performances and Kate focuses on moving up the ladder. By the time the case is wrapped up, Jack and Kate understand each other a little better, but as the ship sails on to its next destination it seems their personal journey is far from over.
1/8 Continues weekly